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Something to Watch: Discs

We get two animated western films this week, with The Secret Life of Pets being my vote for the best choice. Mind, Lego Star Wars: Freemaker Adventures is probably also a good option, but since I haven’t seen it yet I have to go with the one I have seen and know I like. The Lego Star Wars set is the first season, totally 13 episode, 22 minutes long each.

Anime starts out with the Live Action Attack on Titan The Movie: Part 2, but I am sad to report I have seen no mention of the Live Action TV show that accompanied the movies. By all reports it wasn’t very good, but being a completest I would still like to see it. Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno is also the second Live Action film in a series that started life as a Manga, then an Anime, although this one will have a total of 3 films in the set, the third one being released in January.

Bikini Warriors: The Complete Series is actual Anime, with the emphasis on Fan Service and a premise so silly this definitely qualifies as Comedy. Speaking of Comedy, Fairy Tail: Part 22 has episodes 253 through 265 and all the magical collateral damage we have all come to expect from this series. Little Busters Ex is an OVA spin off of the Little Busters! Ecstasy variation of this anime based on a lite graphical novel that is sometimes a game. Ninja Slayer kicks reason to the curb, and includes some animation that looks like it was done by pre-teens drinking way too much coffee. I am unclear who the target audience is for that one, I only know it does not include me.

Seiyu’s Life: The Complete Series is based on the Doujinshi by voice actress Masumi Asano, and its all about (surprise!) Voice Acting! In fact Seiyu is the Japanese word for a Voice Actor, and there are a number of big-time voice actors doing cameos in this series. If you ever wanted to get an insiders eye view of what it takes to become a successful voice actor in the world of Anime, you need to watch this series.

Something to Watch: Discs

There are a lot of family friendly choices this time, starting with the live action remake of Pete’s Dragon from Disney. Spielberg’s take on Roald Dahl’s The BFG is also by way of Disney, and also family friendly. The animated adventure comedy The Wild Life has one of the more cleverly done interactive web sites that I have seen, is a world of fun, and again, is family friendly. It is also still another excellent example of the kind of quality animation work coming out of Belgium and France this century. I do have to admit that Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is family friendly for only certain totally twisted and dysfunctional variations of the word Family (or Friendly, for that matter), which should be obvious from its R rating, but it is a total hoot as well. See this one, just don’t let your kids in the room while you are watching it.

In Anime, Death Parade: The Complete Series has a simple premise: When two people die at the same time, they have to fight. The one who wins gets to live again, the one who loses is gone for good. Decim is the arbiter:a judge who determines whether or not a soul is worthy of reincarnation. At least until he until he meets a mysterious young woman whose fate seems impossible to decide, and the real story gets underway. Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine, Complete Collection is season 2 of this series, and includes all 12 episodes plus the movie. This is not the first anime series to explore what it means to be human, or even the first to do so while the characters DNA is being rewritten, but it does have a somewhat unique approach to the question. The first part of one of this years most edge-of-your-seat shows, God Eater 1, also becomes available this week. I will be waiting for them to put all 13 episodes into a single box set myself, but it is good to see they are making it available in however limited a form.

Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli

I am wishing I lived in Toronto, and considering spending the Xmas/New Years holidays there, just so I can attend Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli. They will be playing pretty much every Ghibli film ever made, starting on December 24th with Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service, all masterpieces by Hayao Miyazaki. I have only seen a small handful on the big screen, it would be amazing to see the entire collection presented that way. That is starting exactly one month from today, if you happen to make this event be sure to tell me all about it!

Moana Today!

I have been looking forward to Moana, and it finally kicks off today! How about a few of the songs just to get you ready? The first is We Know The Way, written and performed by Opetaia Foa‘i and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the second is How Far I’ll Go sung by Alessia Cara, and they are both addictive little tunes you will not be able to get out of your heads very quickly.

Something to Watch: Discs

The wonderful animation Kubo and the Two Strings comes out this week, if you missed it in the theaters you definitely want to catch it now. It is also one of the best instances of stop motion filming I have seen, possibly surpassing Box Trolls. Kevin Smith’s Yoga Hosers is also out this week, a sort of horror-comedy from Canada. Even though it isn’t genre I do have to mention Mechanic: Resurrection, if you are in the mood for action it is the film to watch this week.

In Anime Aquarion Logos: Part 1 is the first 6 episodes of Season 3 of the Aquarion series. The battle is between text and voice to determine which parts of the world are erased and which are saved. Likewise Gatchaman Crowds Insight is season 2 of the Gatchaman Crowds series, in which select Humans and Aliens wear suits which help them manifest their special powers and protect the Earth. Asterisk War Part 2 is the second half of the first season, and since there is a second season I expect waiting until they put the entire thing out in a single box set for a more reasonable price is the way to go.

Something to Watch: Discs

In Movies the animated Finding Dory from Disney and Pixar is the only film that had a widespread theatrical release. Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years was in theaters, but being a documentary it didn’t get the number of screens needed to take it beyond Limited Release. It did get enough that most people who wanted to see it could do so, although some folks had a bit of a drive, and is part of Hulu’s Because The Beatles collection. How Sarah Got Her Wings missed the big screen as it was a TV Holiday Special from Ion the other year.

Anime brings us Charlotte 2, the last 6 episodes of this 13 episode series about those with special powers. Priced at right around $13 per episode, I will be watching it on Crunchyroll for the foreseeable future. Ultimate Otaku Teacher Part 1 is about a smart guy who is only interested in his blog and hobbies of anime and manga. His sisters gets fed up and signs him up for a job as a teacher, which he turns out to be surprisingly good at. Yes, it isn’t genre, I am including it for its Otaku aspects. Chaos Dragon tells of a small country caught between two larger countries war. Its Dragon deity is insane, but the only hope they have is for the surviving member of the ruling family to form a bond with the Dragon, and channel his power to get the country back its freedom. Castle Town Dandelion – Complete Series has nine super powered siblings campaigning to take over their dads job and become the new king. File it under silly fun.